


Part 7: The Smoke Under Nas

by HeroOfMorderan



Series: Hero of Morderan [7]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-30
Updated: 2017-09-30
Packaged: 2019-01-07 09:19:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12230016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeroOfMorderan/pseuds/HeroOfMorderan





	Part 7: The Smoke Under Nas

Leaving Lord Lester’s mansion the way we entered, we avoided the creatures the townspeople, including our friend Esmerelda, turned into. As we walked to the region of the forest marked by the red circle, I kept running though that letter we found in Lester’s desk. Who’s Luthmire? Based off what Curtlik knows about the Dragon Scale, they can’t be good, so what is Lady Bessel doing getting involved, and does it have anything to do with tonight?

Speaking of tonight, what the heck is going on! It’s like every day on this quest gets weirder and weirder. I’ll be honest, this wasn’t on my list of possibilities when I agreed to get the Necklace of the Land. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t not like this, though it is a bit unpleasant sometimes. 

This is for you, and I have to keep fighting, despite whatever messed up situation we get into. I just picture you, wherever you are, whatever you’re doing. Maybe you’re in trouble. I sure know what kind of evil is out there, now. I keep imagining when I’ll get to see you again, when I find you.

We’ll be in the same city, maybe Sender’s Run or something. The streets are crowded, dirty, dangerous, but one day we both find ourselves on them. I’m walking through, trying to get a lead on where you are, and I see the back of your head across the crowd. I’ll run to you, and as I’m running, I question if it’s really you. If it’s not, and I come up behind a stranger, things could get ugly. 

I’ll decide to risk the potential confrontation, because this is as close to you as I’ve ever felt, and nothing else matters. I’ll run, calling your name in my head, telling myself to wait until I see you before I start crying. Then, as if you heard me, you turn. 

That’s all I need. There’s no question now, there you are. In all of Morderan, in all the evil and all the madness that we both went through, here we are. Twenty feet and closing. It takes you a moment to register my face, but you do, and you meet me for the embrace I’ve been waiting to have for years. 

Nothing happens for a while, the people pass around us, but they don’t matter. I just pay attention to you, and the way I’ve forgotten about how you fit in my arms. I remember now, and I smile harder. You might think the world stops, but I know it keeps moving around us. Good, I’ll think. I want the world to see how happy we are, and that we’re safe. 

I’ll finally get to see your face, and it’s just as I remembered. I’ll smile, and you’ll smile back and we’ll blink away our tears. You’ll laugh at me for being so emotional, but it doesn’t matter because we’re both just so happy.

Minutes will pass while we enjoy this moment together, then I’ll remember I had this for you. I’ll hand you this story and say that I never gave up on finding you. Then we’ll leave and have a life together again. Yeah, that’s how I think it will go.

Thinking about you must have shown in my face more than I expected, because Curtlik looked over me with a curious expression. 

“What’s with you?”

“You know the writing I’ve been doing, that you asked me about before?”

“Yeah, so you don’t forget a moment of all this?”

I laughed under my breath. “Well, that was part of the reason. It’s for someone, someone I lost years ago. I used to write what I’ve been thinking about, or anything interesting that happened that day. I would tell stories…”

I realized I hadn’t talked about you to anyone in so long. Putting it all into words sent a wave of emotions crashing over me. It’s been a while since I cried thinking about you, but telling Curtlik the truth choked me up.

“Well, anyway,” I continued, fighting back my tears. “I keep searching, until the day we find each other. I can’t give up hope.”

Curtlik stopped. I took a few more steps, then turned when I realized she wasn’t next to me. It was dark, but the bright blue moonlight cut through the trees at the edge of the forest, illuminating her face. She is a warrior. She is as strong as her drive and determination, and I saw that when she faced me. I saw her soft features, and the way her face was both gentle and powerful. 

She took a step, closing the gap between us. I saw the tears welling in her eyes, only making it harder to hide my own. In that moment, I was only focused on her. I felt her hand on my shoulder. 

“You’ll….we’ll keep looking.” She could only bring herself to whisper. “I’ll be here to help you.” The chaos of the creatures back at Nas drowned out into nothing. In that moment, the world stopped. I reached up, tears openly falling down my face, and grabbed her hand on my shoulder. 

She pulled me towards her, and we held each other. My arms wrapped around her, pulling her closer to me. I held onto her, as if she would float away if I let go, carrying all my strength with her. I buried my face in her shoulder, softly containing my cries. I felt her head against my neck, her own muffled cries sat in my ear. 

“Thank you.” I whispered. We stayed like that for a moment. Then she raised her head to look at me again. Wiping away her tears, she smiled weakly at me. She didn’t have to say anything, everything was already said.

We walked deeper into the forest together. We didn’t talk until we got to the area marked by the red circle. It was a large hole, about twenty feet in radius and fifteen feet deep. Looking down, the walls were a dark black stone, but it was hard to see much at this distance. All that was inside was a tunnel, leading underground. 

We were about to descend the stone stairs into the hole when something caught my eye in the bushes off to the side. When we investigated, we found a body, dead for only a few days, with long slash marks and stabs across his body. We hadn’t met him in person, but we saw him in paintings. It was Lord Lester. 

“We have to tell Esmerelda.” I said, hiding the body back into the bushes.

“Tomorrow, they’re not human now anyway. Let’s deal with this first, and tell them about Lester in the morning.” Curltik was right, there was nothing we could do now.

It’s hard to know exactly what he was doing there, but we went into the hole with a heightened awareness. Anything could happen now. Inside, a closer look at the stone revealed it was uncommonly old. More specifically, the stone didn’t match the stonework in the area. It was ancient, though the hole itself was new.

It only kept getting more mysterious, which was beginning to be expected at this point. Walking to the hallway, it was about forty feet long. The same black stone made of the entirety of the path, and dull yellow inscriptions covered the walls. 

“Do you recognize these?” I asked.

“They’re some kind of glyph. I don’t know exactly what they do, but I’ll sketch some, and maybe Sorchan can identify them.”

After Curtlik took note of the images along the walls, I took a cautious step into the hallway. Cold isn’t the right word to use. I felt numb walking down the hallway. My senses felt dull as we walked. I turned, slowly, like the air was made of some dense material. I could see back outside to where we entered, but I felt nowhere close to it. I felt apart from everything. 

Emerging on the other side, we shook off the cold that seemingly crept into our souls. Looking around, we were in a small room, only about ten feet in radius. It too had the same black stone covering the walls and ceiling. In front of us were three pedestals in a line extending about two feet up from the ground. Behind them, the wall rose, the stonework extending up the raised ceiling on the far end of the room. The center of the far was didn’t have the same stone used for the rest of the setting, it was flat and smooth. It was a single, giant stone that made up the center of the far wall, like a monolith. Gold writing was scripted across it:

The gems the color of fire, water, and grass

The image of fire, water, and grass

Let the forces of nature open the door and reveal the crown

“Do you see any gems?” I asked, looking around.

“This place is empty.” She responded, flatly. 

“What about the ones that thing had back at Lester’s mansion? Did you take them?”

“Of course I did, here.” She pulled out the sack the thrasher had before we fought. Handing me the sapphire, she pulled out the ruby and emerald.

“What if we put them on these?” I motioned to the pedestals.

“It’s worth a shot.” Curltik responded. 

Once all three gems rested on top of the each of the pedestals, they began glowing. At once, they started melting, and the red, green, and blue liquids dripped down over the pedestals on which they were resting. The liquid pooled at the base, seeping into the stone. 

“Well that was something.”

No sooner did I finish; the monolith began to shake. It vibrated violently, then rose, only a foot off the ground. Peaking over, we saw a grey smoke pour out from the other side, filling the room. Curtlik and I coughed, trying to run away, but only got a few steps before everything went black.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to include this next part. It’s dark and horrible, and I wish not to subject what played out in my mind to anyone. Even so, I feel the need to share it all. Perhaps it’s selfish, and I hope that writing it down will take it out of my mind. Maybe, by sharing, you will understand me better. I hope it is not as painful for you to read as it was for me to experience. Tears fall even now as I think about it, and I must use one shaking hand to steady the other to even write these words. I’m sorry for this, please forgive me. This is what the smoke made me see.

We were home, all of us together again. I was holding you in my arms. You were a little baby again, so small and innocent. Your mother was resting at the table, eating breakfast. We must have just come in from outside, you always loved to look up at the sky, something about the trees always fascinated you. 

We walked through the front door, and I greeted Maya with a smile, asking her if she wanted to hold you. I heard the birds chirping through the window. The breeze drifting through the room brushed against her curled brown hair. Maya looked up at us, and instead of the youthful grin she always gave up, her face was different. She had a look only one who was looking directly into the face of death could have. That face could only come from someone witnessing the most extreme horror and pain anyone could know. That face was alien to me.

Her spoon fell to the ground. Barely audible was her soft whispers of denial. I could see she didn’t know if it was better to cry out in pain or fear at what she saw before her. I’ll never know what her instincts told her, and maybe that’s for the better. 

I stepped forward, but your mother recoiled further, still only saying “no”. I turned you around and revealed the unspoken horror. Still, you had that look of knowing something we didn’t. What was it that you knew that we dare not guess? “What is this!?” I shouted, holding you out to her. Tears burned like acid rolling down my face. “Tell me!” I demanded, pleading for an answer I didn’t know if I wanted. “I don’t know!” My wife sobbed, dropping to her knees. “I don’t know.” It hung in the air, thick and dense. I stared down at her, not knowing what to do, only feeling a rage burn deep inside me, uncontrollable. “No…” She whispered, her voice trailing off. “No…” she repeated, crawling back away from us. “No.” Fear grew in her voice as she trembled against the wall. “NO!” She wailed, tears and spit falling from her face. 

Every cry only made the rage inside me grow stronger. You began to cry, the innocent little cry I remember, but still you had that terrible, terrible face. A face that will forever be burned in my eyes. That horrible, painful face of death is all I will see. “NO!” Uncontrollably your mother, my wife, let out desperate screams between her sobs. 

She began scratching at her arms and face. Small drops of blood trickled down her neck. Her hand searched the floor, finding a dagger. “NO!” Again. Raising the dagger, she drove it into her stomach. “NO!” She choked. This time softer, wetter, she coughed blood. Again, she pulled out the dagger, driving into herself once more. Her shaking hands, red with blood, slipped on the handle and fell to her side as she collapsed back against the wall. Red pooled around the wounds. I only stood, empty and cold. You continued to cry, but your voice was only an echo, overpowered by the gruesome sight before me. 

But no, because then the skin around her wounds began to peel. Curling, they pulled away from the wounds, revealing fresh muscle. But no, because it wasn’t muscle, because it was black. It was tar and it was burned and it was dead. Her skin continued to peel away from her body until nothing but the thing that made me frozen in shock remained. My voice shook. 

 

This thing, resembling a body only by the most generous of descriptions, curled into a ball on the floor. The rough skin, like leather, cracked and wrinkled. You cried louder, you were scared too. 

I held you tighter, closer to my chest. You screamed, but then your voice changed. It turned, and stopped being cries, then slowly mutated into a laugh. You were giggling. You were staring right at what use to be Maya, and you were laughing. Your eyes were bright and your laughs were full. 

I felt vacant. I was only passively bearing witness to the events around me, helpless to do anything. Your joy rung in my ears. I was disgusted by you. Letting go, you fell to the floor. Who were you? I couldn’t look at you. 

Still, I couldn’t move. I was frozen, at the will of a power I feared. You looked to me, still laughing wildly, a terrible grimace across your face. Why did you start screaming? Why, now, did your laughs twist into violent shouts? Your eyes never left mine, they stared through me, seeing every corner of my soul. 

I don’t know how, but it shook me, and I looked down to discover I was on my knees. I looked up to see you, older now, standing above me. You looked like you did before you left with Maya, only a few years ago. I remember your long golden hair falling to your shoulders. You were still so young. 

I couldn’t see your face, it was obscured by a mask. It was red and demonic, with wild horns twisting and curling out of its forehead. It had the same cruel grin you had as a baby.

Black smoke began pouring out from behind you, concealing you in its darkness. I screamed, pleaded through cries to not leave me again, but the smoke only continued to grow around us. My voice seemed to be absorbed by the darkness.   
It surrounded me, entering my mouth with every shout. I chocked as it began to eat away at my insides. It collected over my eyes and ears, fighting its way in. Pain rushed over me as millions of small needles forced themselves into me. 

You were gone now. Everything was gone now. I couldn’t even tell what I was doing. All I felt was the overwhelming force of the black smoke destroying me. The world went black. 

Then there was a light. It started as a small pinpoint, but grew as if the source was approaching me. It came closer, and I realized that the light was from a fire. It was still considerably far, but I had to squint my eyes to avoid the bright flames. 

It came closer, and I saw what exactly was on fire. It was a person. With each step, little spots of fire burned where their feet were. The person labored, taking heavy steps towards me, tumbling forward over themselves. Closer now, I saw it was a woman.

I wanted to avert my gaze- the fire was burning my eyes as much as my skin, but I had to know who it was. Her hair danced up with the flames, and her eyes were glowing the same bright orange. Maya? I thought she had come back, but no, she was gone.

She wasn’t ten feet from me before I identified her. Curtlik. Matching the fire closing in on me, my soul erupted in flames. Everything inside me raged. Not her, please not her. But it was. And she still drew closer.

I could see her pain. Her face was broken and dead. Her skin melted, dripping down her face like sweat. I screamed, but all I could hear was the roaring fire, now not three feet away. She, too, stood over me, her face unidentifiable now under the engulfing flames.

Curtlik reached out, a single finger pointing down towards me. Then my body burned. Everywhere I looked was obscured by orange flame. Every breath in swallowed fire down my throat. I looked down at my hands, melting away like ice.

I looked up to Curtlik, whose face was completely burned off. Burned and boiled skin masked the face I remembered, but I could feel her emotions. She was crying, her whole body watched in pain as I was consumed by flames. 

I tried to reach out to her, but lost all control of my muscles. My tears dried as soon as they fell. Everything I had was gone. 

With a shudder, I woke up. Gasping in the small room with the three pedestals. 

I laid there, thinking about what I experienced. This...this vision I had. I know it isn’t true, but I can’t… I had memories less vivid than this. 

I looked over. Curtlik. I fought away the flashbacks of her burning body. Did she see what I saw? She too was on the floor, breathing heavily. Sweat covered her face and arms. I could see her shaking. Her veins were visible again, like before. Deep purple crept up her arm and neck. It made me feel uneasy, seeing that here, now. She took a few deep breaths, calming herself, and the veins receded until finally disappearing again entirely.

Curtlik asked me if I was ok, I lied. I knew she could see right through it, but I didn’t care. Her voice was soft, timid. Did she see something too? I heard my mouth ask if she was ok. All my mind could do was live that vision over and over again. I hated it, I hated that I remembered it. We sat together in silence, both staring out into nothing, recalling things we dare not utter, in fear of making them real. 

Neither of us wanted to speak first, we couldn’t bring ourselves to do anything but stare, wide eyed and blankly, off in space. The silence was think and tense, and it weighed heavy on both of us. Curtlik was the first to look over to where the giant slab was- the one that rose slightly to release that horrible smoke.

I saw her focus her attention, and turned my head to see. I moved slowly, almost as if I was in a trance. I moved as if any sudden movement would shatter my stable, but delicate, mind. It was hindering on sanity and madness now, and I feared the slighted action could break me, sending me into insanity. I questioned what I saw when I looked over, but had to trust my eyes.

The slab had risen completely, revealing a small alcove dug out in the wall. The hole was just large enough to house a fourth pedestal. Despite the room we were in being dark, and the only light being the now rising sun shining down the hallway, this small room was well lit. An unknown, magical source, shone down to fill the space. Resting on the pedestal was a crown. The light reflected brightly off the metal frame, but it was very much a dark, black metal. Wrapped into the metallic frame, placed around the circumference of the crown, were deep crimson rubies.

We both rose slowly, and crept closer to the crown. Standing before it, I slowly reached out. Something inside it called, screamed out to me. I had to touch it. 

“No.” Curtlik grabbed my hand. Her voice, finally breaking the silence, and the speed with which she reached out, brought me back. I blinked, looking again at the crown, then to Curtlik.

“You know what this is?” I asked.

“No, but I know it’s bad.” Her voice was weak. She was afraid of this crown.

“How do you know?”

“Did you have a vision when that smoke came out?” She looked directly at me, I felt her hand, still holding mine, tremble.

I took a moment, breaking eye contact to watch the ground. I didn’t want to have a vision. I wanted it to be wrong, just something I thought had happened. I couldn’t deny it, though, not to Curtlik.

“Yes.” I whispered.

“I saw that crown in mine.” My hand withdrew, and I took a step back, from both the crown and Curtlik. She continued, her voice was delicate. “I don’t know what it is exactly, I just know it’s evil. There’s darkness in that crown.”

Why was she having visions about evil crowns? In my vision, I saw the people that were important to me, though they were twisted in horrible ways. Why is this crown significant to her?

“Ok, I believe you. Can we just take it and get out of here? I don’t like this place.”

“I agree.” Curtlik reach into her bag, and pulled out a cloth. She wrapped the crown in the cloth, and stored it in her bag. She looked at me, nodding softly, and together we left that place. 

Walking back through sent the same cold emptiness through my body as when I entered. We climbed up the stairs, and stopped once we exited the hole. We must have been there longer than we thought, because the sun was coming up now. We agreed to rest in the forest and decide what to do.


End file.
